Google's New Search App Has A New Look And App-Searching Superpowers

Over the last few weeks, Google has been adding Lollipop's material design flourish to all of its big name apps and services, and now the Google app is finally getting the same treatment. But in addition to its new look, Google is pushing its voice assistant even harder by opening up "OK Google" search to app developers.

Voice search has yet to be adopted as our primary means of navigating our devices, but Google is making a strong case for it. Now you can open and search in many third-party apps straight from Google. For example, just say "OK Google, search Tumblr for [whatever]" and it will directly search within the app. Google released this new ability to third-party app developers in late October, saying it required "hardly any" code at all, and developers from TripAdvisor, TuneIn, Trulia, and YouTube -- to name a few -- have already implemented the change (and you don't even need Lollipop to start using it.)

Of course, one of Google Now's most popular functions is serving up important info mined from Gmail. Now, a new Google Now card will ask if you want to set reminders based on the context of emails in your inbox, hopefully making those "sorry I missed your email" mea culpas a thing of the past. Also, Google continues its quest to organise your life by just making decisions. Once you say, "OK Google, flip a coin" you leave your fate in the hands of Google Now.

Of course, all these functions are reserved for only the Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and the 2nd generation Moto G with more Android phones expecting the update very soon. Older Nexus devices were expected to receive the update last week but a battery-draining bug derailed the OTA release. Hopefully, the wait will be over soon.